The Outsiders: Stayin Gold
by HisokaAkuma
Summary: This story starts right after Ponyboy gets his themed assignment back from his teacher. Its a romance about a girl Ponyboy meets, and about him trying to be happy even though unhappy things have happened in his life.
1. New girl Ch1

Stayin golden. Chp1

I've finally gotten my Themed assignment back from Mr. Syme. It felt like it took much longer than two days I let Soda and Dallas read it, it took them a while but they got through the whole thing. Soda and Darry looked almost in tears at the end. I think they finally fully understood how I felt about the subject. Darry told me that I should try and publish it because it would make a great story one day but I told him that it's special and I would never want to plaster my life everywhere. My grades have been getting a lot better, partly because Dally keeps on nagging me about getting my work finished and handed in on time.

I heard banging and clashing of dishes in the kitchen. I rolled over to tell Soda to get up then noticed that I was alone. I decided to get up or else I may be late for school. While I was on my way to the bathroom to take a quick shower Darry yelled my name.

"What?" I yelled.

"Hurry up Pony! You'll be late for school" Darry called back.

"I'm hurryin' jus' give me a minute"

And with that I stripped my clothes off of my body and was in the shower all at once. When I got out I greased back my hair with my comb walked down the hallway to see eggs, bacon, chocolate milk and chocolate cake greeting me at the dinner table. I sat down and joined my brothers for breakfast.

"So Soda, have yah seen any lookers lately" Asked Darry

"C'mon you know I still like Sandy and all, so don't ask questions like that" Soda replied.

I kind of got all dazed after that and ended up eating my food while starring at the wall till I was finished and was ready to be dropped off at school. Darry dropped me off at the front of the school, as always.

"Bye little guy, have a good day" called Darry.

"Bye Pony" Grinned Soda.

Then I watched them drive away. I took in a deep breathe then let out a huge sigh. Another day at this school, luckily there is only two more days left until summer. I smiled then opened the doors and walked in the school. I had gym first, then socials, lunch after that I had science and for last class of the day I had my favorite class, English. I peered around the class, nothing had changed. Mr. Syme was in his desk all of the students were in there seats. Class started, but then there was a quite knock on the door. A soc got up to answer it, when he opened it a very short, beautiful girl with pail skin and rosy cheeks and long silky golden colored hair that was pulled back with a white ribbon letting some

of her hair fall out on the sides, with her feathery bangs perfectly placed in front of her forehead. Appeared in front of the class, she took a shy step in.

"Umm excuse me…" The girl gulped

Gosh, her voice was so quiet and fragile sounding, its breath taking. I thought to myself.

"Yes?" Answered Mr. Syme.

"Is this Mr. Syme's English class?" Asked the girl.

"Yes, yes it is, you must be Suzanne?"

"Yus sir" Suzanne squeaked.

"Right then, would you like to introduce yourself? Stand right here" Said Mr. Syme while pointing to a spot right next to his desk.

Suzanne walked over to the spot he pointed at, while looking very scarred. She stopped looked around at all of the people, took a hard loud gulp that even I could hear. Her eyes stopped on me, I looked around me to see If she was staring at someone or something else, then she let out a giggle then smirked. I felt my face go hot.

"I'm Suzanne Souer" she started "I moved here from Vancouver which is in Canada-

"You're a soc though, right?" She was cut off by a soc that was on the football team. She shrugged then went on saying that she lives on the west side. Damn, she lives on the west side, she's classified as a soc, I thought. The teacher pointed at an empty seat which was three seats behind mine, mine was the second front one. As she walked past me I could smell her scent. It was really sweet smelling. It reminded me of sweet strawberries or something near to that.

I attempted to look behind me and at her by pretending to scratch my head. But she was starring right at me she caught me starring at her so I turned my head around so fast I almost heard it crack. For some reason I felt my face going hot again, and felt sweat on my face. I decided to start on the descriptive journal that was just assigned to us to get my mind off of the lovely fallen angel near the back of the class, poor innocent girl that got put in this twisted town. I saw her walk past me to hand in the work she had just finished, wow she was mighty smart to. What a bonus! Mr. Syme read it, and looked very pleased then asked her to sit down. When she was walking back to her seat she looked at me starring right into my eyes. She had really deep, gentle light brown eyes; they were almost gold, like her hair. The end of the day bell sounded off. I popped up and headed for the door, to overwhelmed that school was over to remember that doll in the classroom.

I got the stuff I needed out of my locker, went outside and started walking home. When I got home I saw Darry on the Couch with a coke in hand watching T.V, I asked him why he was home so early and he said he pulled a muscle today while working. I glared at him dropped my bag on the floor along with my blue, worn out sweater, Headed to the kitchen to get a bottle of Coke than sat down beside him.

"You know Dally, you really have to stop doin' this to yourself" I groaned

"I know, but I have to get food on tha' table, Pony you know this" Argued Darry

"Yeah I know this but really Darry? Go a bit easier on yourself, Soda and I already tell you this lots…The least you could do is listen" I warned

"Fine Pony, whatever" Sighed Darry

"I'm goin' to the movie theater" I grunted

"Fine, don't be back to late and if you can't get a ride call me I don't want a replay of last week.

I bit at my lip and Grimaced from thoughts of just a couple days ago. Then arose to my sweater, slipped it on and left the house. I started down the street when I saw Two-bit, Steve and Sodapop Walking home.

"Howdy Ponyboy" Two-bit hollered

"Hey, Wuts up?" I asked.

"just headin' over to your house we're gonna watch some Mickey, an you?" Wondered Two-bit

"I'm makin' my way over to tha' movie house" I proclaimed.

"Oh! Well don't get jumped Pony!" laughed Steve

"Be careful!" cautioned Soda

"I will, bye guys!" I waved

I stopped in the lot, because I wanted to watch the sun set and reminisce about watching it with Johnny and how he wanted me to tell Dally to watch one, one day.

"Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay." I whispered to myself as I watched the earth fall asleep and run cold.

All the way to the movie house I thought of Johnny, Dally, Bob, the fire and sunsets. I finally reached the brightly lit movie house, and squeezed myself under the fence. I know I really shouldn't be going to the movie theater alone or even walking alone but I can't help it. I just like being left alone while watching a movie in piece.

I saw a little girl stare at me, grab her parents hand, go all wide-eyed and scream "GREASER!" I looked over at her tilted my head then cracked a laugh. I walked up to the seats looking at the ground the whole time. Till I heard a girl, with a soft voice edging a guy to leave her alone because she's not interested.

"Just because I live in the same neighborhood as you doesn't mean I need to date you! My goodness!" Roared the girl. Suddenly her voice wasn't so soft.

"But babe-

"Don't babe me you disgusting drunk! Leave me alone!" she cut him off in mid-sentence, no more like before he could talk.

I finally looked up to see that the boy was walking away, while lolling back and forth. Wow he really was drunk! Hah! Then I looked at the girl. It was the new girl in my school, Suzanne, the fallen angel. Golly was she perfect! I started to sweat again, and felt my face go hot, even though it was freezing outside. I heard her sniff, and then she sat down on the chair in front of mine. She opened up a book, I peeked over her shoulder to see what book it was, and it was "The Lord of the Rings". Well that's a bit nerdy I have to admit. But she reads books too, it seems like we have lots in common, I smirked at my remark. Suzanne yawned while raising her arms for a stretch.

"Hey kid! Put your hands down!" yelled an elderly man that was with his wife.

Suzanne looked back and called out "Sorry" Her eyes landed right on me, after all I was right behind her. Her eyes grew bigger then they softened and she smiled.

"You're from my English class right" Asked Suzanne. Who me? I asked myself. I guess so. I smirked then managed to shyly say "yes". She smiled a very loving smile at me, it showed of her dimples and pearly white, perfect, straight teeth. I gasped then she cocked an eyebrow?

"What is it? Are you hurt?" She worried.

I could feel myself blushing. I was so embarrassed I don't even know why I gasped. She just looked soo pretty.

"Nothin'" I cleared my throat. "It's nothin'" I shrieked.

"I'm sorry but I don't believe I know your name" she began "mines Suzanne Souer, but you probably know that from today…umm… I prefer Suzie though" she went on.

"Well then, I'm Ponyboy" I claimed "Ponyboy Curtis" I added.

"Oh my-

"I know, I know, it's a strange name" I interrupted

"I was actually going to say that your parents are very imaginative beings. I actually think that it's a wonderful name, it's so unique and it's good to be different, Pony." She gazed up at the stars after she said that, for a really long time actually. Then I broke the silence by saying "yeah, my folks were real nice. But they're dead now."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know." She had a panicked look on her face.

"Its fine you couldn' of known." I confided.

Shhh! Called out a mother with two children. Suzie put a hand near her mouth, and gasped.

"Perhaps if we wish to talk we should go somewhere where we won't be bothersome to others." She reasoned.

"I guess so." I agreed, not really caring.

Suzie got up and motioned for me to get up to so I did; we walked over to a vacant lot near the movie house. She sat down in the long, untamed grass, leaned back and gazed up at the stars.

"Isn't that jus' a sight to see" I said.

"Yeah, I like it almost as much as I like sunsets" My eyes went off of the stars and went on her. Her hair gleamed from the moon light; her pail skin looked as if it was glowing, a slight cool breeze came by making her hair wave back and forth. It was then that I noticed, I really liked this girl. I didn't exactly know why though. She stood up and brushed herself off and turned around and started walking in the opposite direction. Golly, her hair is so long it almost touches her butt even when it's pulled back. She coked her head and smiled down at me. I got up and smiled at her, Wow, she really is like a fallen angel.

"Pardon?" Huh, what? Did I really just say that out loud? A panicked look flashed across my face. I gulped then said "I didn't say a thing" she started to crack up.

"I guess I'm going crazy" she proclaimed and walked on. Then she turned around.

"You coming?" she called out

I was in a complete daze from her beauty. "Of course I am" I choked.


	2. Understanding Ch2

Heey guys, if anyone has stuck around for this chapter. Thanks for thinking its worthy enough of reading on! Sorry for taking so long to write this, it was actually sitting in my documents already finished and just waiting to be looked over. Silly me!

-Akumanya

**The Outsiders: Stayin Golden, Chapter 2**

Suzie started twirling around with her arms raised above her head; her white dress was waving about. I attempted to raise my eyebrow but failed. Suzie stopped and grabbed my hands. My palms got all sweaty, and I could feel sweat droplets on my face.

"Shall we dance?" she grinned

"There isn't any music" I said, more or less just to protect myself from tripping over my feet like a loon. _What a strange girl_, I thought.

"Aweh, that's unfortunate" she said as she peered at her watch. "I have to go Ponyboy, perhaps we'll see each other again tomorrow after school?" She whispered into my ear while hugging me.

"Suzie, you do understand that you're a Soc and I'm a Grease, right?" I began "that means that we cannot be seen together, or people will think things… and if they think things that won't be good cause we live to much of different lives."

"I'm not a soc…I'm just a person." She reassured. "So it's not gonna matter if they see us"

"No, you're a soc. You live on the west side, so you're a soc!" I reminded

"What if I don't want to be a soc, have you ever thought of that?" Suzie bellowed, she raised her head at the stars "maybe, I just want to be who I am…and not have to worry about gang rivalry…after I just moved here is all. I never signed up to be one, did I?"

"But your still a Soc, whether you like it or not. It's what your classified as because of where you live and the clothes you wear."

"Shoot, I know…but haven't you ever wished just to be free? To not have gangs? Or categorize people? Wouldn't everything just be so much easier?" Suzie sighed well putting her arms out like a bird

"Yeah, it really would be but that's not how things are Suzie" I reminded.

"Augh, well…" she gulped "well, what if I kind of…sort off…like a Grease? Not saying I do but what if!" she murmured.

"Then I'd say you're tough out of luck!" I snorted not really realizing what I was saying.

"Well, dreamy Ponyboy Curtis, I believe this is good-bye and good night. I must be going home now. Or I'll be in trouble; I think I'm already late actually."

"Right, I have to get home to, Bye Suzie." I related.

When Suzie turned she looked as if she was about to cry, her eyes were filled with tears. _Had I made her cry? Was she talking about me? Would people understand if we liked eachother?_ Those were the three questions I repeated over and over again to myself the whole long way home from the vacant lot next to the movie house.

I opened the door to my house; Soda and Darry were at the table just starting to eat.

"The boys went home?" I asked whoever was listening

"Yeah, a while ago actually" answered Soda.

"You were almost late pony! It's already two minutes to eleven" Informed Darry.

"Sorry, I lost track of time I…" I trailed of and never finished. Darry and Soda both stopped eating and looked up at me baffled. I was turning red and clammy, and they could see that I was sweating more than usual.

"…Pony…?" asked Soda

"Who were you with?" added Darry

"Oh shoot, no one special" I lied

I shook it off, because I didn't want Darry hearing me go on about girls, he'd be awkward then would say something like shoot lil brother, you're already off chasin after girls, then he'd want to give me "the talk", which would be even more awkward then talking about girls to him in the first place. I'd rather just talk to Sodapop about stuff like "girls" then talk to Darry about them, and I don't think Soda would tell me that I have to be safe like Darry would.

I sat down with my brothers and began to eat; the atmosphere was tense and silent from the previous event that had just happened just a few minutes ago. Darry and Soda shot a few concerned stares between each other, as if I wasn't there during our meal. Until I couldn't bare it anymore, so I rammed the last of my food off of my plate and into my mouth, gulped my Coke down and just about choked myself half to death.

"where yah goin' Pony?" Called Darry

"To bed, I'm exhausted from today" I called back

"Bet you are!" Laughed Soda

I heard myself make a weird noise. What did they think I had done out there? Who did they think I was with? Augh, why would I do that at this age? "pfft, they can't possibly think that…" I said to myself. I started to pull my shirt off and my pants and socks of as well. It was a really warm night, a dry warm that makes your nose feel stuffy.

I heard Soda come in so I turned over on my side, facing away from the door. A crease was made in the bed from Soda lying down; He turned putting an arm across my chest.

"So, Pony…is there anything that you wanted to talk to me about?" asked Soda

"Mmmm, nope" I answered

"Nothin' at all?" Soda added then went on saying "Well Darry wanted me to talk to you"

I felt my stomach drop, and suddenly the room's temperature rose. "Jeez Pony, don't freak out it jus' is makin' Darry and I a whole lot more concerned" Soda blurted. I turned towards him and looked at his movie star featured face; his arm slid off my chest from me sitting up.

"Look, Soda I promise I did nothin' bad, nothin' at all"

"Well then, don't act so scarred about today why don't yah go on and jus' tell me what happened today, Promise I won't tell Darrel" Soda urged

"Shoot Soda, don't look at me like that" Soda had a look on his face that was telling me he wasn't going to give up and that he really wanted to know "Oh, fine I'll tell you" damn, I caved in, it's just too hard to say no to Sodapop.

"Well, is it a girl? What does she look like? Is she nice?" Soda demanded

"If you quit talkin' maybe I could tell you!" I half yelled

"So it is a girl! Okay, first, what's her name?" Soda roared

"Her name is Suzanne Souer, but she goes by Suzie." I Began "She's real pretty, she reminds me of a fallen angel or somethin' an I'm not jokin'" I took a breath then continued "she has golden hair, and eyes that are about the same color, she has really pail skin with rosy cheeks, she has really cute dimples when she smiles. An real nice teeth." I smirked in delight of this fine maiden. "She's also really kind, and talks really strangely…She's actually from Canada so she has a funny accent, her English is perfect" I stopped then sat up, Soda followed me with his eyes, he almost looked shocked. "She's perfect I added."

"Shoot kid, your blushin'! Calm down Pony, s'not like she's here or anythin'" Soda remarked

I clapped my hands over my cheeks and felt my face go even hotter, I felt like I was gonna pass out, for some reason I was really embarrassed sharing this with Soda. "She sounds like a soc though, how she's so perfect an all." Soda yawned. I gasped, fiddling with the sheets.

"I guess she does" I grinned

"Well did you guys…?" Soda grinned while making a vulgar jester with his hands

"Augh! Soda!" I screamed so loud it probably would send Darry storming down the hall to burst in at any moment. I felt embarrassed. Darry burst in the door screaming "what is it?" right when I was saying "I didn't, I wouldn't at this age!" Darry stood in the door way with his mouth wide open then he looked relived and calm, as did Soda.

"Oh, now that is settled" Darry started "Pony, we need to talk…" _Crap, it's gonna be the birds and bees speech_ I thought to myself.

"I'm really happy an all that you really like this girl, but you have to remember to be saf- I cut him off before he could finished by blurting out "we aren't goin steady or anything, we haven't even kissed!" I bellowed out "I promise nothing of the sort!" I added.

"Oh? Why not!" Soda yelled, Darry burst out laughing and said "Yeah kiddo why not?"

"What?" I was confused "Oh, I donno, maybe she doesn't like me…but she did call me dreamy when she was sayin' bye, is that good?"

"Course that's good Pony!" Soda answered

"Alright boys, its late and you need to go to school tomorrow" Darry pointed at me "and you need to go to work tomorrow" Darry pointed at Soda.

"Shoot, second last day of school! What if I don't see her all summer?" I asked

"Golly Pony! Think! Just ask her for her phone number." Soda answered

"But what if she doesn't-

"Trust me she will!" Soda explained

"But she seems so untouchable" I sniffed

" S'not like she's a soc or anything" he confided

"Umm, yeah…" I replied

"Alright kids guh-night" Darry interrupted

Everything went quite after Darry left turning of the light behind him. Soda pulled the covers over him faced the other way. "My kid brother is growin' up". This made me snicker. Then I turned in the opposite direction and we went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up to Darry shaking me and telling me that we're late. We didn't have time to eat. Soda and I were arguing over who could use the shower first till Darry screamed and said "jus' let Pony use it you always use it first Soda!" I pushed Soda out of the bathroom and jumped in the shower. Right when I was finished Soda stripped down behind me when I was facing the mirror and greasing my hair back with the comb. When I was finished I screamed at soda to hurry up. When Soda was finished we slid ourselves into the truck. Darry drove Soda to the gas station first because it was on the way to my school, after Darry dropped me off at my school. I raced into the door not replying to Darrel's goodbye. I had English first. I burst the door open all panting and sweaty, mumbling to myself that I have to stop smoking and saying sorry to the teacher.

The whole class stopped what they were doing and looked at me dumbfounded. I turned read then stood up straight and re-said "Sorry"

"Its fine Pony, take a seat" Said Mr. Syme

"Right" I looked at my seat to find that Suzanne was staring at me with a huge grin across her face. I started to blush then she giggled. I wasn't the only one that noticed her staring…

"Well are you just going to stand there starring at your girlfriend or are you going to take a seat?" Asked the teacher

"S-sorry" I stammered.

Suzanne just put her head down as the rest of the class started to laugh. I don't understand how it was so funny though, but apparently they thought it was. Perhaps it was because she's a soc and I'm a Greaser, hmm, who knows! The class was long and boring, and then finally the bell rang. I packed my stuff up and left the class to embarrassed to look back at Suzie.

I headed to science, I really hated the soc that sat right in front of me in that class, he was always starting arguments with me during class or shouting out rude remarks of how I'm a grease. After the bell rang I started to my locker when I was opening it I felt someone tap my shoulder with a tiny finger. I turned, didn't seen anyone in front of me so I looked down and saw Suzie's big gold eyes staring up at me. _She's so short _I thought just realizing it at that moment.

"Umm, do you mind if I talk to you, Pony?" She asked. I looked around and people were staring at us in the hallway. "Perhaps we could go to the cafeteria?" she suggested.

"Suzie, I can't talk right now. Plus I never eat in the cafeteria" I started to walk away; I felt her tugging on my arm.

"Please Pony" When she looked up at me her eyes were watery and swollen like she was just crying. Then I noticed the marks that were around her neck, they were bruises in the shape of hand marks, you could see the details of the fingers and all. My eyes widened and I grabbed her hand that was grabbing my arm, I bent down a bit so then we could be eye level. "Let's go" Her and I walked out of the school and started to the parking lot, Two-bit and Steve were out there waiting for me to take me somewhere for lunch. But I waved and walked away. Suzie and I were still hand in hand, and in the parking lot I watched as Two-bit's and Steve's eyes followed us. Suzie started to sob; I turned around to look at her. She let go of my hand and put her hands over her eyes and started to ball.

"W-what's wrong?" I asked "What can I do to help?" I was alarmed now not because she wasn't answering. I didn't know what to do… she's a girl…I didn't know how to deal with girls when they cry, should I put my hand on her shoulder and say It'll be fine wanna talk about it?

"n-n-nothing" she said with a shaky voice behind her small hands.

"M-my dad, he snapped at my mom…" she sobbed "He hit her…I tried to protect her and tell him off…and he started…" she stopped and looked up at me taking her hands away from her face and putting them beside her, curling them into fists " started to chock me" she said putting a hand to her neck.

"When did this happen?" I was shocked, how could someone do that to this little angel.

"This morning!" she shrieked. "He was drunk, it wasn't his fault he's not like that anymore, honest!" she shouted then started balling again putting her hand up to her face again.

Steve and Two-bit were still staring at us from Two-bit's car, He finally got his brakes fixed. There was a long pause. There was a lump building up in my throat, before I noticed what I was doing I had bent down and put my arms around her torso, she had her arms around my waist barring her face into my chest.

"Sorry Pony" she blurted

"For what? It's not your fault" I told her

She looked up at me whipping tears from her face. Letting out a smile then a thumbs up to say that she was feeling much better. "Pony?"

"Yeah Suzie?" I replied

"Can we do something after school today? She sniffed "I really don't want to go home" she admitted

"O'course we can, what do yah wanna do?" I asked

"Anything…" she declared

"Well how about we have a lazy afternoon watching the sunset in the lot near my house…then we can think of other things to do afterward" I suggested

"That'll be great!" she boomed


	3. The beginning

Heey guys! The chapter before and this one were actually the same chapter but then I noticed that it was a really long chapter compared to the previous one. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and like things to be near even so I split them up to do so.

Thanks for still reading! :3

-HisokaAkuma

**The Outsiders: Stayin' Golden, Chapter 3**

The bell rang telling us that lunchtime was now over, when we were walking towards the school I saw Two-bit and Steve mouths open and eyes wide following us with their eyes. My eyes widened. Suzie looked at them then at me in confusion. _Oh no! The boys just saw me with a soc…_ _they saw me hug a soc…its looks like were dating or something!_ I said to myself. "Suzie I'll see you after school"

"Okay" she smiled back as she walked away; she was inside and down the hall already.

"Shoot Pony, was that a soc?" Steve barked

"Y-yus" I had no intention of lying to them.

"Your datin' a soc?" Two-bit frowned

"No! " I half yelled "…well I don't know" I admitted while looking down at my feet not wanting to make eye contact with them.

"Yah know Pony, you gotta be careful" Steve cautioned

"Dang, is she ever cute though!" Two-bit blurted

"I know!" my eyes brightened, Steve and Two-bit glanced at each other then laughed frantically.

"Kid, you're head over heels for this girl, hey?" Two-bit smiled "be careful or some soc'll shanghi you!" Two-bit added.

"I'm late for class, bye guys" I told them, they were late for class two. So we all walked inside together. It was gym so it wasn't that bad being late for it, What's Darry gonna think once he gets a phone call home saying that I was late for two classes today instead of just one. I shivered at the thought of this; _well it's a good thing I'm doing something after school._

Nothing special happened in my last two classes, but I was sure happy to be leaving school and meeting Suzie outside. Suzie and I went to "Dairy Queen". I had a BBQ sandwich and a hot fudge sundae as well a coke; Suzie had a Banana split and a chocolate milkshake. I told her if she keeps eating like that she'll gain wait.

"I won't gain a pound Pony!" she told me "I dance lots, so I loose pounds from dancin'" she explained.

"What kind of dancin'?" I teased

"Ballet" she chimed.

"Right, sorry, Ballet…My mind was going to other places" Whoops did I say that out loud. Her mouth widened, she looked very shocked.

"You pig!" she shot, and then she started to snicker. I was so relived I thought I messed everything up in those few words.

"You're just too good lookin' and dreamy to be angry at" she smiled.

"No, you're cute, dimples and all!" I chuckled

"Oh god" What? I knew that voice. I cocked my head to see Sodapop, Steve and Two-bit standing in front of the table we were eating at. Soda was the one that said oh god.

"Can we take a seat here or would we be interrupting?" Soda taunted

"Oh you're not interrupting" said Suzie before I could say that they were. And with that they sat down asking Suzie and I to slide over. Two-bit was beside Suzie, Steve was on a chair he took from a different table so he could sit at the end of our table, and Soda was beside me. It was fine though, I still had Suzie across from me.

"Hello, you must be Suzanne" Soda claimed "I didn't know you were a soc" Soda Added glancing at me, then grinned at Suzie, Suzie smiled back. Soda looked surprised and made a weird noise in his throat.

"Wow, what are you doin' here?" Soda asked Suzie

"Pardon?" Suzie looked shocked, but then Soda smiled

"Pony was right, you are like a 'fallen angel'." Soda ranted, Suzie looked embarrassed and started to blush.

"Y-you said that?" she demanded

"umm, err, well…" I stammered

"Aweh! Ponyboy Curtis aren't you just the cutest thing I ever did see!" She bellowed and grinned crazily, it reminded me of Soda's grin. Everyone at the table started to chuckle so did the waitress that was asking us if we needed anything else, I instantly felt myself go hot. This made everyone at the table go into a big up roar.

"So what if I did! Don't laugh at me!" I told

"Pony, don't be embarrassed it really makes me feel special" Suzie responded "Thanks, I needed that after this morning" she added.

"what happened this mornin' Pony?" Two-bit teased

"Nothing" Suzie squeaked looking down.

"I didn't mean anything by it" Two-bit exclaimed.

"Not its fine" Suzie replied. I noticed that Suzie was starting to feel upset and out of place. I couldn't blame her though, circled by a whole bunch of greasers that we all looking at her like a piece of meat, Except for me that is.

"Wanna go Suzie?" I urged

"Sure, only if you're ready to go" Suzie called

"Yeah lets go" I replied. She looked awfully relieved to be leaving at last, I was to. We walked to the lot, talking the whole time about things, her past how her mother was useless and just sat there sulking or picking at her father for money to go shopping and how her father was abusive to her mother and her more to her though because he thought that her mother had cheated on him and had a child with another guy even though she hadn't. Her father took it out on Suzie and not her mother.

"So Pony, I'm getting tired of talking about myself..." Suzie announced "How about we hear something about you?" she proposed

"Right" I cleared my throat "There isn't really much to say…"

"Oh, sure there is Pony! Go on" She begged

"Err…okay" I gulped "I had a better happy life before my folks died" I let out a long sigh afterwards took a deep breath "But nothing lasts forever…" I added

"Just a week ago my friend Johnny died…he" I stopped, then I felt Suzie's arms around me saying "Pony don't cry, It'll be okay" I haven't even noticed I was crying till she pointed it out. "He was my favorite…I could talk about anything with him I went on saying.

"He really dug sunset's n stuff too" I cried "My other friend Dally died as well just last week the day Johnny died, got shot by the fuzz under a street light. Collapsed down was dead before he hit the ground"

"How did Johnny die? Suzie asked "if you don't mind me asking" she added

"Well that's a bit of a long story" Suzie pulled herself away from me, grabbed my hand pulled me on the ground and said "I love long stories" then sat down on the ground as did I.

"Wait here" I asked

"Umm, sure" Suzie smiled

When I reappeared I had my themed assignment in hand and handed it to her. "Once you get the time can you read this?"

"Of course I can…but are you going to tell me what happened?" Suzie asked

"Everything I would tell you is in there…I jus' don't feel like talkin' about it" I cried "I'm tryin' to forget, well not forget but heal"

"Its fine, whichever is better for you, I can read it tonight" Suzie said with a loving smile then added "Can I have your phone number?"

"Yah! O'course" I choked as she handed me a piece of paper and a pen from her purse. I gave it back to her with my phone number on it with my messy chicken-scratch handwriting. She grinned then put it in her purse. The sun was starting to set; everything was going gold and pink. Suzie was lying down on her back looking up at the sky I was laying down beside her I cocked my head to look at Suzie. Her eyes weren't on me they were up in the sky, lighting up with every color change from the earth. Stay golden I thought to myself. I started to smile, I know why I like her so much…It's because she reminds me so much of my favorite people. She reminds me of Soda because she's always smiling and happy-go-lucky, she reminds me of Johnny because she digs sunsets and has that puppy dog look, she has gold hair and eyes it's like she was sent here from heaven as a message from Johnny I thought to myself knowing that there was no way of her actually being an angel but understanding that if I wanted to be happy I would have to have her for my own. Finally the sun was set and Suzie was stretching and yawning.

"Tired?" I asked

"No, just a bit cold though." She hinted I took off my sweater and put it on her she smiled at me. "You know you don't have to-

"No its fine" I interrupted "I'd rather catch a cold then have you catch one"

"Oh Pony!" she squealed and pounced on me sending me backwards and hitting my head against the grass, she was on top of me, supporting her body with her hands. She just gazed into my eyes, "you know, Pony"

"Yah?" I smirked

"You have really nice eyes…I never noticed it till now but they're a really pretty color of green" she pointed out

"They're gray" I snorted

"They definitely have grey in them but they are a lot more green then they are grey" she said calmly Suzie was still sitting on my waist. Then looked at her watch "shoot, Pony I gotta go" she cried "I'm late about an hour late!" she bellowed getting off of me and ran away in a flash before I could even say goodbye. I sat there for a bit gazing up at the stars, until I remembered that she and I had the same curfew so if she was late I was going to be late as well. I got up and walked over to my house which wasn't even a block away. When I opened the door I was ready to get cussed at by Darry, but no one was home. I went into the kitchen to get something to eat hoping that they weren't looking for me, when I sat down at the dinner table with my sandwich I had just made and glass of chocolate milk in hand I saw a note on the counter.

Ponyboy, Soda and I will be working late today. Don't be out to late and go to be on time tomorrow is your last day of school until exams. So make the most of your last day get as much work in as possible. And no girls over.

-Darrel

I grinned at the "no girls over" bit then crumpled it thinking that it was too late about the going to bed on time part. I finished my sandwich gulped my Chocolate milk down and went to mine and Soda's bedroom. I took off my shirt and pants and was about to get into bed until I heard a knock on the door. I was too lazy to put pants on so I just walked to the door thinking it was one of the boys but as I opened the door I thought _when do they ever knock and wait for an answer_? When I opened it I saw Suzie looking up at me with tears in her great big puppy-dog-looking eyes, her left cheek was all swollen and there were bruises all over her arms matching the bruises around her neck. I wrapped my arms around her and she just about collapsed into me, slamming her head into my chest starting to ball. I lifted my finger up to her chin tipping her face upwards to mine asking her what happened.

"It's fine, it's nothing…" she cried "I'm safe now" she added

"Suzie, you come here in tears at one in the mornin' on a school night with bruises all over yourself and you say it's nothin'!" I boomed "You can tell me!" I cried. And I actually started to cry partly because I was hurt she wouldn't just tell me and because she looked in bad shape and it was scarring me. " You can tell me" I repeated more calmly then before.

"It was my dad" In those four words I stopped crying, tugged her in my house and started to curse and scream all sorts of things. I stopped once I noticed it wasn't helping the problem.

"Umm, right…what do yah wanna do?" I said with a forced smile trying to ease the uncomfortable atmosphere. "Spend the night?" I offered not thinking of the consequences to my actions.

"Y-you're in your boxers!" Suzie yelled, and then started to giggle. I turned red because I had forgotten all about being too lazy and tried to put them back on when I came out to answer the door. I didn't know what to do I just stood there staring at her. I grabbed her hand and dragged her to mine and Soda's room because I was tired and wanted to go to bed. And I did just ask her to spend the night didn't I? And she didn't say no.

"I share this room with Soda soo-

"You have lots of books!" she stated then sat on the bed I sat on the opposite side which was normally Soda's side. There was a long silence then I had the sudden urge to lie down, so I did and so did Suzie. We were speechless just staring at the ceiling shoulder to shoulder.

"I read your story thing" she whimpered

I turned on my side to face her and she just cocked her head to look at me. She started to cry again, "that's so sad!" she bellowed "my life is so much easier than yours" she said with a shaky voice "and y-yet I come here, running away from my problems!" she sat up and buried her face in her hands. I sat up to and grabbed her face. She was starring right in to my eyes. My breathing became uneven and before I knew what I was doing I could feel her soft lips against mine, I could taste her salty tears that were running down her face. We took our heads away from each other looked at one another. We set our heads back down on the pillows. I lifted mine up again, moved her bangs out of the way and kissed her forehead. "g'night" I said tenderly "see you in the mornin'" I added

"You promise?" She looked at me as if someone just died, it seemed important to her.

"Of course" I replied with a smile. Suzie had her head resting on my chest, we were hand in hand. We soon fell asleep awaiting Soda's and Darry's return.


End file.
